TinselTales: Where Did That Guy Run Off To?

I have written about the subject of today's post before, though eleven years have passed in the meantime! He figured in a lengthy tribute to three different Guys. The man in question is one Guy Williams, famed for his roles on Zorro and Lost in Space. It has always intrigued me the way Williams basically exited his career in 1968 and, in fact, exited the U.S. in 1977, returning only once before his unfortunate death in 1989. He basically severed regular contact with his family in the process. So today we're going to look into that a little bit further. 

Born on January 14th, 1924 to parents of Italian descent, Armando Catalano was schooled at a military academy before growing up into a 6'2" hunk. Working as a print model, he eventually segued into acting, with a Universal Studios contract. He poked around in bit roles before freelancing (appearing in the hooty Sincerely Yours, 1955, and in a variety of TV parts.)

Career salvation came when Walt Disney hand-picked him to portray the title role on Zorro, a hit TV series from 1957 to 1959. Kids couldn't get enough of the Spanish California hero who swashbuckled his way through various adventures.

The tall, handsome Williams inspired a generation of youngsters, but was easy on the eyes of many adults as well. The series enjoyed a healthy budget, making it a popular way for viewers to spend a half hour. The show ran into legal entanglements between Disney and ABC which caused a halt in production. By the time that was settled (after two years!), interest in the concept had cooled.

Regardless of his Italian surname, it was later discovered that his ancestry was likely made up of Spanish people who had migrated to Italy long before, so he was actually more in line with the role than even he knew at the time. The suave, debonair Williams was continuously approached by the ladies, who he may or may not have entertained privately.

Thing was, he was already a husband and father. Married to Janice in 1948, his son Steven was born in 1952 and daughter Toni came along in 1958. The picture perfect family was featured in many publications during his time on Zorro and, later, Lost in Space. Regardless of the smooth manner Williams projected professionally, he was reportedly a fiery, vivacious man in private and a considerable disciplinarian to his children. (Not in an abusive way, more of a constructive, instructive way. The household was a strict one.)

In the wake of Zorro's cancellation, Williams worked on the Disney flick The Prince and the Pauper (1962) and made the European films Damon and Pythias (1962) and, as seen above, Captain Sinbad (1963.)

Devilishly handsome (and sporting some nice legs) in Damon and Pythias.
After these projects, he returned to the U.S. with the promise of a new television venture...

The hit western Bonanza was about to lose one of its key cast members. The saga of a wealthy rancher and his three sons, one son - Pernell Roberts - wanted out of his contract. Williams was brought onto the series as a cousin and plans were made to work him into the mix as a replacement.

Audiences had grown very accustomed to the diverse trio of Cartwright sons and there was a public outcry over the possibility of Pernell's departure. Ultimately, he was retained to finish off his contract, leaving Williams in the lurch and out of a job. Roberts would eventually leave for real (and the show prospered without him for many years after.) DO check out Michael Landon's iconic taupe trousers in this publicity photo, by the way...!

Fortunately for Williams, another break was on the horizon. Irwin Allen hired him to headline a new science-fiction program called Lost in Space, all about a family named Robinson who find themselves, well, lost in outer space! It was a derivation of the famed Daniel Dafoe story Robinson Crusoe. Williams was the husband of June Lockhart and father to three children. Mark Goddard was his faithful assistant.

The initial Lost in Space pilot had only the Robinson Family (along with Goddard) in it. After it was completed, the decision was made to include an antagonist to the mix, which turned out to be Jonathan Harris as the devious and duplicitous Dr. Smith. As the main cast was already set, Smith was granted "Special Guest Star" billing throughout the series' run. The character was a constant fly in the ointment, causing all sorts of mayhem, intentional or otherwise.

During the course of the show, it was basically "stolen" by Harris, young Billy Mumy and the Robot. These three in one combination or another soon became the show's selling point and most of the time the rest of the cast were relegated to supporting roles no matter their billing. The show became campier and, after switching to color, more garish in tone.

Needless to say, this direction did not sit well with Williams who had been hired to headline the series along with Lockhart. He understandably began to lose interest in it, preferring to play the stock market during his plentiful free time. By the time the show was cancelled in 1968, he was through in more ways than one.

The charming Williams is seen here in a 1967 episode of Password in which the answer is "Space." His partner's clue was "Lost..." but it didn't register. Fellow guest Irene Ryan and her partner won. You can clearly see here the way Williams manipulated his hair to provide a false hairline.

Williams had watched "his" series devolve into kiddie-oriented drivel (one of the most humiliating episodes being one in which The Robinsons were held captive by a giant carrot who turned Dr. Smith into a celery stalk!) After its demise, he was able to live comfortably on his investments. But a whole new chapter of life was about to occur.

Argentina was a place that greatly adored Williams' old series Zorro and in 1973 he visited there to be greeted by teeming throngs of fans. He was coaxed at the airport into donning his old hat and there were hordes of autograph seekers and curious spectators at every turn. He returned to Argentina in 1977 with plans to create a new movie featuring his character. A 15-day trip turned into a permanent move...

Williams had plans to reignite the Zorro character, but the project faltered and never got off the ground. (Once George Hamilton's parody Zorro: The Gay Blade, 1981, was green lit, all plans for a legitimate reboot were abandoned by Williams.) He began making public appearances before crowds of thousands. An Argentine Olympian, Fernando Lúpiz, was hired to spar with him during these performances.

Lúpiz, 19 at the time, described his first meeting with Williams thusly: "We looked at each other and we fell in love." !! Needless to say, a revelation like that had my eyes bugging out. But it seems that the relationship was actually more like a father-son association. Williams had separated from his wife and was fairly estranged from his own son over some disagreement (reputedly political.) He and Lúpiz began performing at circuses and Williams lived with the young man's mother for 7 months until he became settled in his new homeland. (You can make out some of Lúpiz in the foreground of the prior photo at an airport as well.)

For 16 years, the two were close friends, traveling and working together as the character of Zorro and "Son of Zorro."

Hideous gossip that I am, I was truly believing that I was on to something here... Notoriously private actor leaves wife and children to move to another country, taking up with a young man and forging an entirely new existence out of U.S. eyes. But it does not seem to be the case - not as I had figured it. His young pal introduced him to a female friend of his, one who caught Williams' eye, and it led to a lengthy, if stormy and tenuous, relationship.

In 1983, Williams made a return to the U.S. in order to appear on a week of celebrity episodes of Family Feud. He also made an appearance on Good Morning America. While here, he finalized his divorce. But he also suffered a heart attack. He headed back to Argentina and was officially retired from performing.

But my instincts that he was in love with his new home for secret reasons were not to be borne out. He actually intended to marry the woman he'd been seeing off and on for several years. But, in a pique of anger over their most recent spat, she'd wed another man! (Not the man shown here! I don't know him.)

The woman, Araceli Lisazo, has described her time with Williams in positively glowing terms. Check out this quote and see if it doesn't melt your butter: "Ours was the love of a novel, from how we met to everything that happened to us, living with him was magical. Never has a man made me feel like this, he made love to me in a wonderful way, I discovered with him that I was multi-orgasmic, although even today no one believes it. He was a unique lover and companion. The first night we spent together we made love all night from eleven at night until eleven in the morning the next day, stopping only to drink champagne and eat nuts. Nobody believes it but he made me have 50 orgasms that time."

Sounds like quite the swordsman, no??! It must be said that when Williams' daughter and ex-wife were preparing a documentary on Williams, they heartily welcomed Lúpiz' involvement, but completely denied the participation of Lisazo. So we may never know exactly what all went down during this mysterious chapter in the actor's life. Living in a variety of furnished apartments, it's been said that he was broke and it's been said that he was rich. There is a lot of disparity in the accounts of his existence during those last years.

What is known is that he sadly died of a brain aneurysm at 65 in 1989. He'd been living a solitary existence for the most part and it wasn't until fellow residents detected a foul scent that his body was discovered by local police. It was an unfortunate end for someone who had given the world a significant slice of entertainment. Initially cremated and laid to rest in Argentina, his son two years later scattered his ashes in the Pacific Ocean, reportedly according to the late actor's wishes. 

Fun Finds: TV Radio Mirror, October 1975

This Fun Find is almost a Poseidon Quickie because, as I went to scan it, I found that the original owner had torn out some of the color pages (pinups!) and cut out coupons, etc...! But I went ahead with what was left in the interest of sharing the occasional bit of pop culture within its pages. The cover of this magazine was to me rather startling for a 1975 grocery store rag. Adrienne Barbeau looks like she's posing for the cover of Penthouse Pet or something! The owner of this mag must have rolled it up and beat the family house cat with it, it was so damaged (or who knows what he was beating! LOL), but I tried to clean it up a little. I also removed as much of the mailing label as I could so that we could see Sally Struthers' face a teensy bit better in her two-piece getup. Ahhh, the problems we face... Now on we go!

Lord, the whole Sonny & Cher breakup and their subsequent relationships, marriages, etc... were big tabloid fodder back in the day. Then there was the severing of their TV show partnership, with individual series to follow, then back together again, rather uneasily!

Sadly, one of the pages removed must have been a large pic of Cher.

Hands up if you know who Diana Trask is... I had never heard of her in my life! The Australian jazz vocalist-turned-country singer had already at the time of this magazine seen her last Top 40 country hits. Returning to her homeland in the late-'70s, she was caretaker to her husband who'd suffered a stroke. There were married close to 50 years until his death. She's still alive today at 81.

The gal in-between David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser is actress Lynne Marta, who appeared on Starsky & Hutch three times. She and Soul had an "open relationship." An unfortunate footnote with regards to her is that she is the person who heard the shots and called the police when fellow actress and apartment neighbor Rebecca Schaeffer was killed by an obsessed fan. Rock Hudson's "nude" scene was very dimly lit, from the rear and brief. And I'm sorry, but from what I've seen recently of Telly Savalas' singing, those patrons had one looonnng night ahead of them!

Nancy Marchand had to wait until Lou Grant to make a real name for herself. Tony Curtis was not able to make McCoy a success. But he did later pop up on several Vega$ installments. And Lee Grant's concerns over Fay only grew worse! Barry Manilow and vague lookalike Wesley Eure hangin' out... Someone tell!

Randolph Mantooth didn't marry until 1978. Helen Reddy neither had, nor adopted, any more children. Bruce Fairbairn spent two seasons on The Rookies, followed by a healthy amount of guest roles on other series up through the early-'90s, yet doesn't have a single photo - even a profile one! - on imdb.com. I don't know how, but I had no clue that Clifton Davis wrote the oft-recorded "Never Can Say Goodbye." In 1979, Beau and Lloyd Bridges would appear together in the negligible The Fifth Musketeer.

Check out Loretta Swit's "Hot Lips!" Here, we get a decent glimpse of Sally Struthers in her outfit.

I had to chuckle at the "Unsuspecting Viewer" suddenly being turned on by these "bad girls" of the small screen... I can only guess what the people who objected to these ladies would make of today's television landscape...!

You know, I still have yet to see Upstairs, Downstairs (or Downton Abbey for that matter!) But I've always liked Jean Marsh, who's still with us today at 87.

For the record, Bill Hudson married Goldie Hawn in 1976 (and is Kate Hudson's dad), which lasted until 1980. Once the divorce was final, he wed Cindy Williams in 1982, divorcing in 2000. Brett married only once, in 1992, and it's still going. Mark was married once, from 1979-1985. The "zany" singer-comedians were nephews (by marriage) of actor Keenan Wynn, who wed their paternal aunt in 1954.

Mr. Beradino lived 21 years past this article, so he did at least get to see these two children grown. (Two prior girls had been born earlier during his first marriage. Despite what this article says, they divorced. It was a second wife who died! Marjorie was his third.)

Say what you will about the way it went down, but at least the Peter Simon/Courtney Sherman union is still going even today! Ryan's Hope was noted for the quality of its acting when it was in its hey-day. Wesley Eure made no movies at all until 1978. I'm not so sure that Peg Murray was "starring opposite" Burt Reynolds in W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975)! She had a role in it...

Get a load of George Reinholt's open shirt. Long live 1975! Ha ha!

"No man can replace Jeff Hunter"...God, I should think not! I just love him. And I really could never quite picture him with Nurse Jessie. Hunter died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage only months after he and Emily McLaughlin wed. He'd been injured by a stunt gone wrong while filming a movie in Europe (and had also suffered another head injury just after!) A tendency toward drinking in those last years didn't help matters.

Just as trivia, the reporter who penned this story is pictured with Jamie Lyn Bauer three photos back. Jeanne Cooper played all sorts of roles in movies and on TV before becoming a daytime TV icon as Kay Chancellor on The Young and the Restless (a role that only came to a halt upon her death in 2013 at 84.)

Readers of a certain age could never forget her son Corbin Bersen, who made a huge splash on L.A. Law. He's the one in the t-shirt that says "FUN" on it.

Band leader and pioneering TV icon Ozzie Nelson died on June 3, 1975. He and his wife of 40 years were the stars of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and their two sons, David and Ricky emerged as stars in their own right.

Ozzie was, as opposed to his laid-back image, a rather controlling workaholic. He was busy up to 1973 when malignant liver tumors plagued him.

Ricky acted and enjoyed a considerable career in music. David acted, but did more directing and producing than Ricky.

The family legacy continued on with actress Tracy Nelson and the music duo Nelson.

You really have to hand it to Ron Howard and his wife. I mean, he was raised in crazy Tinseltown and yet his one marriage (to his high school sweetheart) has lasted from 1975 to this day. Many other men who went on to the sort of considerable success he's had, primarily as a director, have later offloaded their initial spouse for another model!

Neat that Howard's old costars from The Andy Griffith Show, Don Knotts and Mr. Griffith, could be there on the big day.

"Who loves ya, baby?"

George Savalas appeared in all but 3 episodes of his older brother's show Kojak. He died of leukemia in 1985 at age 60. Telly passed away in 1994 at age 72 of bladder cancer, the same disease that took their father.

Sally Struthers married only once. In 1977 she wed psychiatrist William Rader, with whom she had a daughter, but it was kaput by 1983.

I never mention it, but I happen to really love The Drowning Pool! It's considered by many to be inferior to its predecessor Harper (1966), but I have trouble turning it off if I come across it. And even though I wish it were a little raunchier (after all, the poster shows two nude lovers on it!), I adore the deliciously bad Once is Not Enough!

I close with this PERTinent information. God only knows who all sent in $10.00 to get a rack like this gal...

::::Bonus Pics::::

There can NEVER be enough Jeffrey Hunter. I think he is such a seriously underrated actor and example of male beauty. Those eyes! He had a pretty considerable movie career, but nonetheless is mostly remembered for playing Jesus in King of Kings (1961) and for being the initial starship captain in Star Trek's first pilot. But I nearly always enjoy seeing him in virtually anything he did. Since this Fun Find was relatively short, I'll fill out the post with some portraits of Mr. H.

Gussied up in costume for Princess of the Nile (1954.) (No, he was PRINCE Haidi!)

Hunter wanted badly to play Mike Brady on The Brady Bunch, but Sherwood Schwartz didn't think an architect would be that handsome...! (After all the battles with Robert Reed, I wonder if he ever reconsidered his position.)

Even dirty, those eyes stood out.

No Man is an Island (1962) - Hey, I'd have gone to one with him.

At, perhaps, his peak of beauty.